MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — The Middlebury College men’s basketball took a big first-half lead and cruised to a 95-79 win on Sunday over host NESCAC rival Wesleyan.
The Panthers improved to 19-3, 5-3 in league play, while the Cardinals dropped to 13-9, 2-6.
Middlebury’s record is good for a fourth-place tie with Trinity in the NESCAC standings, but Trinity owns the head-to-head tiebreaker for a home quarterfinal if the teams finish tied in the standings.
The Panthers close out the regular season by hosting Tufts (18-4, 8-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Bates (11-10, 3-5) on Saturday at 3 p.m. Trinity is on the road at Amherst (16-6, 6-2) and Hamilton (14-8, 2-6). NESCAC quarterfinal games will be played on Saturday, Feb. 22.
On Sunday the Panthers shot 60 percent from the field and moved the ball well, with assists on 27 of their 39 baskets. A 17-5 run extended an early lead to 30-12 before the Cardinals closed to within 11 at the break, 38-27.
The Panthers pushed the advantage to 56-39 on a Tommy Eastman post move early in the second half, and Wesleyan came no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
 Jack Farrell and Eastman led Middlebury with 20 points apiece. Farrell added seven rebounds and seven assists. Matt Folger scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with six assists, in the process moving into 11th place all-time at Middlebury with 1,187 points.
Ryan Cahill netted 14 off the bench, Max Bosco scored 11, and Griffin Kornaker dished out a career-high 10 assists, making it 19 in his past two outings.  
Gabe Ravetz scored 18 off the bench to lead Wesleyan, while Antone Walker netted 15 with seven assists.